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Poll: Hike taxes to fund schools

Georgians are so concerned about funding cuts, many are willing to pay higher taxes or fees to pay for public education, according to a new poll conducted for the Georgia Newspaper Partnership.

Half of the respondents to a poll of 625 registered voters by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. said they would pay higher taxes or fees to reverse education spending cuts that have led to teacher furloughs and layoffs the past few years.

Statewide, 39 percent said they opposed paying more for education, and 11 percent were undecided. Women were more likely than men to support paying more for schools, and black respondents more willing to do so than white ones. Democrats were twice as likely as Republicans to support higher taxes or fees for education.

The Savannah Morning News and 12 other Georgia newspapers commissioned the poll.

"I think Georgia's going in the wrong direction by slashing education budgets, by providing direct money to private schools with their education tax credit and by allowing retired persons of unlimited income to pay no Georgia income tax," she said.

Shannon Counihan, a 21-year-old biology student at Armstrong Atlantic State University, said without better funding for higher education the future of Georgia would be at stake.

"Education's very important," said Counihan, in between assisting customers at her summer job at Davis Produce on U.S. 80. "Everyone needs it. There will be a lot of people without jobs because they don't have education. And there will be a higher poverty rate."

Patrick Snyder, a longtime union worker from Dallas, Ga., who responded to the poll, said a tax hike to help schools "would suit me just fine."

"I'm a firm believer in education, and I don't believe in laying off teachers or cutting their salaries," he said. "It's just not right."

Not everyone agrees taxes should be raised. Most non-state school funding comes from property taxes, and those taxes have risen significantly over the past decade.

Bill Callahan, a retiree who lives near Griffin, said that while the education cuts are "very alarming," a property-tax increase would be hard to swallow.

"Property taxes now are out of sight for (those of) us retired on fixed income," he said. "I just don't know how much more property taxes we can afford. I believe a sales tax or a consumer fee would be fairer."

State school spending per student has gone up and down the past decade. The total amount the state sent districts has dropped during the recession. Over the course of seven years, the cuts have amounted to more than $3 billion.

The state cuts would have been far worse if not for federal stimulus money. The federal government has pumped about $900 million into K-12 schools since early 2009 to help ease the impact of the state's fiscal crisis.

Still, school district after school district has faced a budget shortfall. First, teachers were furloughed. Then districts started laying off teachers and other school personnel. Some systems have cut the number of school days to save money. Many, if not most, have increased class sizes - the number of students each teacher must teach.

Herb Garrett, executive director of the Georgia School Superintendents Association, said the poll results may show Georgians are finally seeing the results of years of "austerity" reductions.

"Whether it's the loss of a program that is near and dear to their hearts or a neighbor who has been laid off, I think the damage now is real," Garrett said.

But a lot of Georgians polled by Mason-Dixon said schools are worth bigger hits to their wallets.

Verna Gowan, a Marietta retiree, said she believes schools should be adequately funded, even if that means a tax hike.

"We just have to do it," she said. "I would have to vote yes for it."

Dashiell Coleman of the Savannah Morning News and other members of the Georgia Newspaper Partnership contributed to this story.

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